We won’t tolerate abuse of Ghanaian deportees – Gov’t to US

The Government has expressed its displeasure with reports of the ill-treatment of Ghanaians deported by the United States government.

According to Deputy Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah government is working with the US Department of State to address the issue.

Ghanaians deported from the US have often complained of alleged inhumane treatment at the hands of US officials.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, the deputy Minister said: “Government has taken note of these concerns and we wish to announce to the Ghanaian people that government has indicated strongly to the United States government our abhorrence for such inhumane treatment.”

“We have expressed to the United States government that the government and the people of Ghana will no longer countenance such acts from the United States government. We wish to assure the Ghanaian people that the government will act at all times to protect the rights and the dignity of Ghanaians everywhere,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah added.

86 Ghanaians were deported from the US in March 2018

They were arrested in different states for various immigration offences like the abuse of the terms of their visas and engaging in illegal employment.

The deportees, all males, arrived on a chartered flight on Wednesday, March 14.

Indications are that they were detained for periods ranging from six and 12 months before being deported to Ghana.

In 2017, US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, revealed that the Trump administration in America was set to deport over 7,000 Ghanaians who have abused the terms of their visas.

United States of America Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson

At the time, he said the Ghanaians were at different stages of the deportation process.

“In fact, about 7,000 of them are currently at different stages of the deportation process. And we are not apologetic about that,” he told the Ghanaian media in 2017.

Robert Jackson was also invited by the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament to answer to the allegations surrounding the deportation of the Ghanaians from the US.

He rejected suggestions that some 63 Ghanaians who were, at the time, deported from the US were brought back home under inhumane conditions.

There were reports that the deportees were handcuffed and forced on board the plane to Ghana.

Ghana’s Ambassador to the US, Dr Barfuor Adjei-Bawuah also recently suggested that he is under pressure from US authorities to sanction the deportation of hundreds of Ghanaians.